Buying Books

Our house is full of books. Enough so that my husband recently blamed our home’s foundation problems on my books. And, though our children do have hefty collections of their own (praise the Lord for IKEA bookshelves), I am the one with the most books. On my shelves there is a large collection of books that are my “to read” pile. So, for the sake of our newly fixed foundation, I’m trying to curb my book buying and work on reading the books I’ve already got.

It has amazed me how difficult it is for me not to buy books. Even with a huge pile of books available to me, I’m often tempted to buy another one (or two, or three). I’ve still not been able to go completely cold turkey on book buying, though I am pretty impressed that I’ve managed to only purchase one book in the last two months. But I’ve also not managed to begin on my “to read” pile.

So, I’ve got a couple of questions:

–> Any coping strategies for a book-a-holic who wants to buy every book that catches her fancy?

–> How long do you keep a book in your “to read” pile unread before deciding to pass it on to someone else?

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1. It helps to be almost 81 years old. I *know* I won’t get it all done.
2. Budget
3. Never buy on first impulse (unless it is the last copy available in the world).
4. “I can read that in the library.”
5. Remember that the nuggets found in any book are stated more clearly and in much fewer words in the Bible. (But it is true that they sometimes strike our emotions more strongly when we see them in another setting).
6. Post a list of your unread books and offer to send them to anyone who pays the postage. Keep a record so you can ask for them back if you really want to read them.
7. Ecclesiastes 12:12